Talk:George Santayana

With "Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." (Currently the first quote), is it worth mentioning

This is sometimes paraphrased "If we do not learn from the mistakes of history, we are doomed to repeat them." (or similar)

According to [1], William Hastie said something similiar, "History informs us of past mistakes from which we can learn without repeating them. It also inspires us and gives confidence and hope bred of victories already won."

Georg Friedrich Wilhelm Hegel said the corollary, "What experience and history teach is this- that people and governments never have learned anything from history, or acted on principles deduced from it." (paraphrased as "All that we learn from (the mistakes of) history is that we do not learn from history.", or similar ).

There are quite a few variants on that particular quote. Feel free to add any that you think should be added beneath it as variants on the original. You have the option of also mentioning similar statements on the same theme by others, with links to them, within a comment below the quotation. ~ Kalki 15:47, 15 Oct 2004 (UTC)

I was doing a research paper on Jim Jones and this quote was also used during the White Night where over 900 people killed themselves. Above the tub of cyanide-laced Kool-aid was a sign that said "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it."-George Santayana

I have not confirmed the citation below, which was posted to a message board, but it may help others:

"Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."

CITES: George Santayana, The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress: Reason in Common Sense 284 (2nd ed., Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, New York 1924 (originally published 1905 Charles Scribner's Sons)(appears in chapter XII, "Flux and Constancy in Human Nature")). George Santayana, The Life of Reason or The Phases of Human Progress 82 (one-volume edition, Charles Scribner's Sons, New York, New York 1954)(appears in Book I, Reason in Common Sense, chapter 10, "Flux and Constancy in Human Nature").

on Google Books, the first result was The Life of Reason: Or, The Phases of Human Progress, published 1905 (public domain!), C. Scribner's Sons. Original from Harvard University. Digitized Nov 8, 2006. The entire book appears to have been scanned. The scan of page 284 shows the following:

Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.

(Emphasis mine.)

Does this call for an ellipsis (or the additional sentence) between the sentences? 69.141.226.51 16:05, 12 March 2007 (UTC)

There is a comma missing in the first line between "essayist" and "poet."[edit]

The Oxford Dictionary of Quotations has "fulfill" instead of "repeat". I have checked the 1906 text (A.Constable and Co Ltd, London) and it is indeed "repeat". However, he has just mentioned hunter-gatherer populations which he (mistakenly) believes do indeed merely repeat their pasts. However, once societies take off on the descent to civilization, fulfill -- far more ominous than repeat -- becomes the appropriate word, both in terms of his philosophy as I understand it and reality, viz. global warming. Nic David.